Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,199,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 805,400 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.8% of Swiss National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Swiss National Bank owned 0.12% of Alphabet worth $2,704,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 617,726 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $117,640,000 after purchasing an additional 81,063 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 6,928 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 308,337 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $58,720,000 after buying an additional 20,011 shares in the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,762 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,002,000 after buying an additional 4,492 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 10,590 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,017,000 after buying an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,682 shares of company stock valued at $17,901,024. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $169.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.01 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.